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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22810567">I Always Knew</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/granolaman/pseuds/granolaman'>granolaman</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Dragon Age: Origins</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/F, Fluff</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-02-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 07:08:39</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>579</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22810567</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/granolaman/pseuds/granolaman</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Really fluffy early relationship feels, super short, extremely cliche, very gay</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Leliana/Female Tabris (Dragon Age), Leliana/Tabris (Dragon Age)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>26</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>I Always Knew</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ilana shivered and scooted closer to the campfire. The warmer seasons were drawing to a close, and the party was waking to find their camp covered in frost more and more. Sten, who only ever sat by the fire in silence, rose without a word and retired to his tent.</p><p>The elf was alone. It was probably late, but she wouldn’t sleep yet. Sleep was generally pretty elusive these days, anyway, and she wasn’t ready to face the nightmares yet. The ones about the archdemon were the easiest; terrifying, sure, but at least the archdemon was something she could, in theory, kill. The worst were the ones featuring her father, or Shianni, or Soris and Nelaros. Even though she had killed hundreds of men and monsters alike by now, Nelaros’s death still felt the freshest. She wasn’t the one who slashed him across the chest, but by failing to stop the blade, she may as well have been.</p><p>A deep breath in, and her eyes close. No. Not now. Those dark thoughts were for nightmares, not her waking hours.</p><p>“Are you alright?” Ilana opened her eyes, and saw Leliana, now sitting across the campfire from her. Maker, but those grey eyes took her breath away.</p><p>“Yeah, Leliana. Just tired.” She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes.</p><p>“You could go to sleep?” Leliana’s Orlesian accented voice was like honey on warm bread: comforting and sweet.</p><p>“Not that kind of tired.” Ilana tucked a strand of hair behind her ear; her topknot had come loose and gotten messy hours ago, and she hadn’t yet fixed it. She probably wouldn’t until tomorrow morning, when she had to be put-together hero again.</p><p>“Ah. I understand…” She trailed off for a moment. “Would you like to hear a story about the Brecilian forest?”</p><p>This time, her smile was genuine. Their eyes locked, and for one perfect moment, there was just the sound of the crackling fire between them, the moisture evaporating from the logs in hisses and pops.</p><p>“I’d like that.” She said, holding the eye contact for a moment longer. Then, she got up, walked around the fire, and sat next to her red-headed friend.</p><p>Leliana spun her story with skill, capturing the creepy air of the forest and the heroics of the elven legendary hero with ease. If Ilana was being honest, though, the story wasn’t her favorite part of these late-night talks. She liked to watch Leliana, totally enraptured with her own tale, her face twisting into the expressions of the characters she played. Her eyes were so bright, and her voice was so energetic. While she talked, and Ilana asked the occasional question, their hands inched closer and closer together. Leliana was reaching the climax of the story when Ilana hooked her left pinky around Leliana’s right. She tried and failed not to smile when Leliana stuttered, and she watched a blush creep across her face.</p><p>As Leliana finished her story, all loose ends tied up and all the heroes gone home, she felt a gentle weight on her shoulder. She looked down, and saw Ilana’s head rested against her shoulder. She brushed a blonde strand of hair behind one of Ilana’s (adorable) pointed ears, and let her hand linger there for just a moment. Now sure that she was asleep, the bard pressed a kiss to her warden’s forehead. She didn’t know if this story would have a happy ending or not, not really, but she could hope.</p>
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